ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 98
OTTO KERN
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SUMMARY: This testimony consists of two quotations from Christian church-fathers: the first says that Orpheus learned the Egyptian Mysteries and then gave them to the Greeks; the second quotation claims that while in Egypt he learned doctrines of Moses.
ORPHIC CRITICAL TESTIMONY 98.
Εὑαγγελικὴ προπαρασκευὴ Εὐσεβίου I 6 (I 20 Dind.):
παρ’ ὧν φασι πρῶτον Ὀρφέα τὸν Οἰάγρου μεταστησάμενον τὰ παρ’ Αἰγυπτίοις Ἕλλησιν μεταδοῦναι μυστήρια, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ Κάδμον τὰ Φοινικικὰ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἀγαγεῖν μετὰ καὶ τῆς τῶν γραμμάτων μαθήσεως.
“For from them, it is said, Orpheus, son of Oeagrus, first brought over with him the mysteries of the Egyptians, and imparted them to the Greeks; just, in fact, as Cadmus brought to them the Phoenician mysteries together with the knowledge of letters: for the Greeks up to that time did not yet know the use of the alphabet.”
(trans. E. H. Gifford, 1903)
On the journey of Orpheus to Egypt, see v. whereby R. Philippson Herm. LV 1920, 273 from Philodem. π. εὐς. 52 b Gomp. having understood he published P. II s. Ἱερὸς Λόγος Αἰγύπτιος.
Compare also Λόγος παραινέτικος πρὸς Ἕλληνας τοῦ ψευδούς Ἰουστίνου μάρτυρος 14 B p. 58 Otto:
οὐ γὰρ λανθάνειν ἐνίους ὑμῶν οἶμαι, ἐντυχόντας πάντως που τῆι τε Διοδώρου ἱστορίαι (v. nrr. 95-97) καὶ ταῖς τῶν λοιπῶν τῶν περὶ τούτων ἱστορησάντων, ὅτι καὶ Ὀρφεὺς καὶ Ὅμηρος καὶ Σόλων, ὁ τοὺς νόμους Ἀθηναίοις γεγραφώς, καὶ Πυθαγόρας καὶ Πλάτων καὶ ἄλλοι τινές, ἐν τῆι Αἰγύπτωι γενόμενοι καὶ ἐκ τῆς Μωϋσέως ἱστορίας ὠφεληθέντες, ὕστερον ἐναντία τῶν πρότερον μὴ καλῶς περὶ θεῶν δοξάντων αὐτοῖς ἀπεφήναντο.
“For I think that some of you, when you read even carelessly the history of Diodorus, and of those others who wrote of these things, cannot fail to see that both Orpheus, and Homer, and Solon, who wrote the laws of the Athenians, and Pythagoras, and Plato, and some others, when they had been in Egypt, and had taken advantage of the history of Moses, afterwards published doctrines concerning the gods quite contrary to those which formerly they had erroneously promulgated.”
(trans. Marcus Dods, 1885)
V. also nrr. 86. 95-97. 99 a. 100. 103.
The story of the birth of the Gods: Orphic Theogony.
We know the various qualities and characteristics of the Gods based on metaphorical stories: Mythology.
Dictionary of terms related to ancient Greek mythology: Glossary of Hellenic Mythology.
Introduction to the Thæí (the Gods): The Nature of the Gods.
How do we know there are Gods? Experiencing Gods.
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Dictionary of terms related to ancient Greek mythology: Glossary of Hellenic Mythology.
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